Wednesday, November 7, 2012

In men, in soldiers, you’re hoping for fidelity?Don’t let anyone here you, for goodness’ sake!They are all made of the same stuff,Blowing leaves, fickle breezesHave more constancy than men!Lying tears, false looksDeceptive voices, lying charmsThese are their best qualities!They love us for their own pleasure,Then they despise us, they deny us affection,It’s worthless asking for mercy from barbarians!We should pay them back in the same way,This evil, indiscreet race.Let’s love them for comfort, for vanity!

Friday, November 2, 2012

are to be Leonora’s husband!
All this I’m told, and yet my spirit is still doubtful

of this unexpected joy! Oh God! Marry him?
Oh, what unbearable shame! As a dowry to the brave man...
I will bring him dishonor, no, never; If he should ever
abhor me, I’ll fly, he will know in a short time
This woman that he adores so.

Oh,
my Fernando! Throne of the earth,
I would have given my heart to possess you,
But my pure love is like a pardon,
and yet I am damned, alas! It is a terrifying horror.

The truth shall be known, and in your extreme contempt
I will face the worst penalty possible;If you are rightly displeased, then I will be a mockeryStrike me, great God, with your lightning.

Come, death, what is stopping you?My pain is written in the skies,
Come, she is a festival,An altar spread with flowers.

The grave is already opening for me;
The black veil is already covering me;
Ah! The sad bride,
damned, desperate,
She will not have forgiveness in heaven.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

If only I was
That warrior! If my dream
Would only come true!... An army of brave men
Led by me... and the victory... and the praise
Of all Memphis!
And you, my sweet Aida,
To return crowned with laurels...
To say to you: I fought for you, I triumphed for you!
Heavenly Aida, divine form.
Mystical garland of light and flowers,
You are the queen of my thoughts,
You are the splendour of my life.
I want to give you back your beautiful sky,
The sweet breezes of your homeland;
To place a regal garland upon your head,
To raise up a throne for you near the sun.

Listen,
listen, o peasants
Don’t breathe a word of this to anyone.
I already suppose and imagine
That you know as well as I
That I am that grand,
Encyclopaedic doctor
Called Dulcamara,
Whose illustrious virtue
And infinite wonders
Are known in all the world...and in other places.
Benefactor of mankind,
Curer of ills,
In a little while I will have cleared out
And swept away the hospitals,
Selling health
And travelling the world over.
Buy it, buy it,
I’ll give it to you for a small price.
It’s this toothache medicine
Marvellous liquor,
The mighty destroyer
Of mice and bugs,
Whose certificates,
authentic and labelled,
I will allow each of you

To
touch, see and read.
This is my specialty,
A lovely wonder.
A man, in his seventies
And sickly,
Yet became

The
grandfather of ten babes.
Well, ten to twenty babes
he had,
Because of this touch and health
In a brief week
It did more than cease
His crying affliction.
O all of you, stiff matrons,
Do you yearn to be rejuvenated?
Your inconvenient wrinkles
Will be erased with this.
Do you want, damsels,
To have smooth skin?
You, young gallant men,
To always have lovers?
Buy my specialty,
I’ll give it to you for a small price
It moves the paralytics,
despatches apoplectics,
asthmatics, asphyxiation,
Hysteria, diabetes,
It cures tympanitis
And tuberculosis and rickets,
And even liver trouble,
Which used to be fashionable.
Buy my specialty,
I’ll give it to you for a small price.
I brought it by post
From a thousand miles away
You ask me: How much is it?
How much is that bottle worth?
100 scudi?... 30?... 20?
No...nobody shall be dismayed.
To prove to you my gladness
That I am accepted as a friend,
I want from you, O good people,
To give 1 scudo.
Here it is: stupendous,
Truly balsamic elixir
All of Europe knows that I sell
Nothing under 10 lire:
But since it is also clear
That I was born in this country,
I’ll give it to you for 3 lire,
I ask only 3 lire:
It is as clear as the sun,
That to everyone who wants it,
1 scudo, nice and neat
I’ll put in my pocket.
Ah! The sweet affection of home
Can do great miracles.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Don Carlo
O Rodrigo, I am so grateful to you
For coming to Carlo in prison.

Rodrigo

Dear
Carlo!

Don Carlo
Well you know it! I have abandoned myself to the current!
For Isabella’s love, I torture and kill myself...
No, it’s not worth going on living!
But you can save them yet;
The Flanders are no longer oppressed.

Rodrigo

Ah! I
can see clearly your affection!
Get out of this ghastly tomb.
I am happy just because I can embrace you!
I will save you!

Don Carlo
What are you saying?

Rodrigo

We’d
better say farewell!

Don Carlo
Why do you speak of death?

Rodrigo

Listen,
time is running out,
I have already turned the tremendous lightning to me!
You are no longer the rival of the King now…
The proud agitator of the Flanders…is me!

Don Carlo
Who would believe it?

Rodrigo

The
evidence is tremendous!
Your papers were found in my possession...
The rebellion testimonies are clear
And this head already had a certain price set on it.

Don Carlo
I want to expose everything about the King.

Rodrigo

No, you
side with Flanders,
You are for the great Serbian work.
You must do it. A new golden age
You will be reborn; you must reign

And I
must die for you.

Don Carlo
Heavens! Death! Whoever for?

Rodrigo

For
me!
The vendetta of the King could not delay!
Oh God!

O Carlo, listen, your mother awaits you
At San Giusto tomorrow; she knows everything...
Ah! I’m leaving the earth... dearest Carlo;
Give me your hand...!
I will die, but glad in heart,
That I could keep
Such a saviour for Spain!
Ah! ... don’t... forget... me...!

Friday, June 15, 2012

Ah, I’ve lost you forever,
My flower of love, oh my hope;
Ah! The life ahead of me
Will be full of sorrow!
When I wandered for years and years
Under the power of misfortune,
I defied grief and disaster
In the hope of your love.
Lovely, blessed dream,
Of peace and contentment,
Change my fate,
Or change my heart.
Oh! What a torment
On the day of my grief,
The sweet memory
Of a tender love.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

I
lived for art, I lived for love,
I never hurt a living soul!
With a secretive hand
I helped every misfortunate soul I encountered.

With
sincere faith
My prayer always
Ascended to the holy shrines.
With sincere faith
I always gave flowers on the altar.
In the hour of pain
Why, why, Lord,
Why do you reward me like this?
I gave jewels for Madonna’s mantle,
And I gave a song to the stars, to the heavens,
that smiled full of beauty.
In the hour of grief
Why, why, Lord,
Ah, why do you reward me like this?

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Are
they gone? I was pretending to sleep
So I could be alone with you
I have so many things that I want to say to you
Or just one, but it’s as big as the sea
As deep and infinite as the sea
You are my love and my whole life ...

Rodolfo
Ah, Mimì, my beautiful Mimì!

Mimì
Am I still beautiful?

Rodolfo
As beautiful as the dawn.

Mimì
You made the wrong comparison.
You meant: as beautiful as a sunset.
"They call me Mimì,
They call me Mimì
I don’t know why."

Rodolfo
He returned the swallow and the chirps to the nest.

Mimì
My bonnet, my bonnet!
Ah! Do you remember when
I came here, that first time, there?

Rodolfo
I remember it!

Mimì
The light had gone out…

Rodolfo
You were so upset!
And then you lost the key.

Mimì
You were looking so hard for it.

Rodolfo
Looking and looking.

Mimì
My dear sir,
I can tell you now:
You found it very quickly.

Rodolfo
I was helping destiny.

Mimì
It was dark and you could not see me blushing
"What a cold little hand
If you warm it up!..."
It was dark and you took my hand.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

You’ve
already won the case! What’s this I hear!
What snare have I fallen into? Miscreants! I want to…
To punish you all...to please myself
the sentence will be...But if he should pay
the old pretender?
Pay her! In what manner! And then there’s Antonio,
Who refuses to give that unknown Figaro
his niece in marriage.
Cultivating the pride
of this idiot...
It’s all profitable for a scam... the deed is done.

Will
I see, while I sigh,
one of my servants happy!
And the good that I desire in vain,
shall he have it?
Will the hand of love
Be united to a vile object
The same woman who awakened love in me
But did not have love for me?
Ah no, leave it alone,
I don’t want this happiness,
You were not born, audacious man,
to torment me,
or perhaps yet to laugh

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

The
flashing of her smile
Outshines a star!
The splendour of her lovely face
Infuses new courage in me!...
Ah! love, enflaming love
Speak to her in my favour!
May the light of her gaze chase away
The tempest of my heart.
What a sound!... Oh heavens...

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Yes; I
summoned you, my father!
I am in doubt,
Carlo has filled my heart
with a bitter sadness.
The child is rebelling against me,
Arming himself against his own father.

Inquisitor

What
method of punishment will you choose?

Filippo

Extreme
measures.

Inquisitor

Tell
me.

Filippo

That
he would escape... that he would be executed...

Inquisitor

Well?

Filippo

If I
send my son to his death,
Will you absolve me?

Inquisitor

The
peace of the empire is worth one rebel.

Filippo

Can I
sacrifice my own son for the world
Me, a Christian?

Inquisitor

God
sacrificed His Son to redeem us.

Filippo

But
can you enforce a law that harsh?

Inquisitor

The
same harshness is everywhere,
if it was there on Calvary.

Filippo

Could
nature
And love keep silent in me?

Inquisitor

All
must be silent to exalt the faith.

Filippo

Very
well.

Inquisitor

Does
the king have nothing more to ask me?

Filippo

No.

Inquisitor

Well
then, I will speak with you, Sire.
Heresy has never ruled Spain,
But there is a man who wishes to undermine
the divine structure;
The king’s friend, his faithful companion,
The demon tempter who leads him to ruin.
Carlo’s betrayal has angered you
But that is a silly game by comparison.
And I, the Inquisitor,
I have often raised
My mighty hand above hordes of vile criminals,
For the great men of this world, should I forget my faith,
And quietly let a great rebel go free...
even for the king?

Filippo

To
pass through the sorrows in which we live
I searched in vain within my Court
But I have found what I longed for,
A man! A loyal heart! I have found him!

Inquisitor

Why
do you need a man?
Why do you hold the title of king,
Sire, if there is an equal for you?

Filippo

That’s
enough, priest!

Inquisitor

The
innovator’s ideas have taken root in you!
With your weak hand, you want to break the tare
Of the holy yolk, extended above the Roman orb...!
Return to your duty;
The church for the man who hopes,
for the man who repents,
Can offer a full pardon;
I ask you for Posa.

Filippo

No,
never!

Inquisitor
O King, if I weren’t here with you in this secret meeting
This very day, I swear before God,
Tomorrow you would be brought to the Grand Inquisitor
At the supreme tribunal.

Filippo

Priest!
I have suffered your harsh words long enough!

Inquisitor

Why
are you evoking the ghost of Samuel?
Henceforth I have given two royals
The reign of your kingdom...!
You want to destroy all that work, madman!
Why am I here?
What does the king want from me?

(To leave)

Filippo

My
father, let there be peace between us yet.

Inquisitor

Peace?

Filippo

You
must forget what has passed.

Inquisitor

Perhaps!

(Leaving)

Filippo

(Alone)
So the throne
must always bow to the altar!

Jerome
Hines as the Grand Inquisitor and Paul Plishka as King Phillip in Verdi's
Don Carlo.